Melitta Integrated Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, TS SMART Model F85/0-101, Bluetooth connectivity, Melitta Connect App, Whisper Grinder (Quiet Mark), Silver

Firstly, forget about the Bluetooth connectivity as this is an unreliable gimmick, but the Melitta App is highly useful for the maintenance and cleaning of the machine. Each part of the cleaning process is explained in the simplest way, a must have if trying to see the instructions on the machines screen is hard for you.Ok, on to the machine itself.Unpacking the machine is easy enough, but you do need to read the instructions carefully to ensure you have the hardness of your water and other information as and when needed.On first use I did an extra 2 coffees to flush the machine before actually drinking what it makes to ensure that it is only coffee you’ll be drinking and not lubricants.For drink preparation the machine can make 4 coffee variations from the front panel, but there are many more available from the menu system on the machine. The ability to save your favourites by person is useful to a certain extent and is extensive in the options for each coffee type but is limited to 1 setting per person per coffee option. To use a mycoffee option, you first press the mycoffee icon then select cappuccino or latte and the machine starts straight away. I mostly use this due to a set coffee cup size and bean settings for latte and cappuccinos.The grinder is not silent but it is quiet enough not to be annoying, the bean hoppers hold enough for 15 - 20 cups in a single coffee dose setting and the machine is conservative in warning you about the hopper being empty and on swapping brands or strengths you do get a mix of beans for a couple of cups.As far as cleaning, the machine rinses itself on startup and shutdown and after each brew it asks to easy clean which sterilises the milk tube and milk system.The biggest thing that you do need to do every day is to empty the drip tray, I find this fills up after only a few cups have been made, else water will spill over and onto your counter top.For the cleaning of the machine and brew components it is easy to do and I do it every 10 to 12 days, it says a weeks interval but the machine doesn’t get that dirty inside.My conclusion with owning the Melitta Barista TS Smart is that if coffee is an important treat that you want to enjoy at home, this is the Bean to Cup machine for you. I am very pleased with the speed of warm up to coffee production is mere seconds and the taste of the coffee it produces. The coffee is hot enough to drink shortly after being made but hot enough not to go cold straight away.The cost and maintenance needed to actually own one of these machines should be considered, as pod machines can give close to bean to cup performance as a better price point. But this machine is a good balance of value for money and the production of great coffee at home.

Ok, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.1) It's massive. Even in our generously sized kitchen it looms out of the counter, it is not an inconspicuous item.2) It's hard to keep looking clean. The gloss black plastic and chrome elements are a magnet for fingerprints and oils.3) The consumables and waste bins and frustratingly small for such a large machine. Only 1.8 litres of water (a considerable amount of which is used to the regular rinse/clean cycles) means you're going to be filling it up on a daily basis. The bean hopper and the grounds waste are also smaller than you'll find on many similar or smaller machines.4) The drip tray is the most annoying design I've ever come across, it's shallow with an internal divider that acts like a dam and suddenly over-spills when you're pouring it out, it is almost impossible to empty it without sloshing it and spilling brown watery dregs somewhere.5) If you're not going to use two different types of beans, the dual hopper with 'auto-bean-select' is the most annoying thing in the world as it means one side of the hopper empties and has to be refilled much sooner than the other, I wish it were possible to just remove the separator and have one big hopper. You can sort of work around this by making your most popular coffee choices pull beans from different sides, however you'll always run out on one side before the other and be shouting "JUST USE THE BEANS FROM THE OTHER SIDE!!" at the machine as it tells you to 'Fill Hopper 1' again.6) It's quite slow! It seems to spend a lot of time 'warming up' and making myriad internal noises before it actually extracts the coffee. Much slower than the old Delonghi we had.7) The menu system is extensive but cumbersome, taking a long time to navigate and the text is tiny considering the generous size of the screen.8) The Bluetooth ‘Smart’ app feature is a gimmick at best and you won’t use it more than a handful of times (once you realise you can pair any of your favourite recipes to the ‘one touch’ buttons on the machine).That’s quite a list of negatives... but I've still given it 5 stars. Why? BECAUSE IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE COFFEE.All design faults are forgiven when you sample a rich espresso, perfectly layered macchiato or balanced Café Crème. The milk system is amazing and the advanced cleaning cycle means you never have to worry about hygiene. Using the same beans, the taste of our coffee went from a 7 using the Delonghi to a straight 10 using the Melitta. It really managed to extract the best from every single bean.For pure coffee indulgence I simply can’t fault it. If you love coffee, this is the machine to buy.

Well lets start with what its bad at. The thing its suppose to be good at. Latte's are luke warm at best. I had one warm coffee the rest just luke warm. Set temp to high in the app. Warmed my cups, i even did a hot water first to get things going and still luke warm. Maybe i got a faulty one. The 8 year old delonghi it replaced has replaced this.The app worked ok for me. Had reconnect once though already. You have to wait for the machine to fully boot up before opening the app. This feature is great and you can make your coffee any way you like it except hot. ( i may have had a faulty one)Cleaning is nice and easy but the drip tray fills up quick because of the internal cleaning it does. Cleaning is good so this you should expect.Having two bean compartments is great idea. One of the reasons i bought it. Its easy to select between the two.Coffee it made was not mind blowing compared to my old machine but was still good and maybe if i had it longer i would of messed around with the setting more. Which can make a difference.Milk froth was not the greatest, i expected more from this machine and price range, again maybe a fault with the heat.Overall if the machine worked at making latte then it would of been great. It is large but i have the space. It is alot quieter than my old machine, and the milk system works alot better, the way it connects. Sad to send it back.Update!Since going back to my old machine this machine makes better coffee from less beans. Kinda old trainer new trainer thing.